Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is a multifunction printer that can print 3,000 to 4,000 pages per month. The user-friendly features make it our favorite mid-range AIO color printer. Epson launches new EcoTank Pro ET-5850 Wide-format All-in-One Supertank Printer. ET-5850 All-in-One Cartridge in the US -Free Supertank Printer. The Epson EcoTank device has a similar design with a donor container integrated into the body. The Epson EcoTank Printer features Ethernet, Wi-Fi, touchscreen functionality, and an automatic scanner feeder.
Epson currently has four Epson EcoTank Pro Printer offerings, including the aforementioned ET-16650 and the somewhat less well-endowed (in terms of color and copy speed) wide-format ET-16600 model. The Letter and Legal models are the ET-5850 and ET-5880 tested here. Which adds support for HP Printer Command Language (PCL) and Adobe PostScript Page Description Language (PDL). PCL and PostScript are, of course, page description languages used in many typesetting, printing, publishing, and graphic design environments, and PostScript is also the native language of Adobe’s modern graphic design software, Illustrator, as well as the code that Adobe Acrobat uses for “drawing” or defining PDF pages.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 AIO printer is a high-performance all-in-one printer designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It uses Epson’s PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology to deliver high-quality prints with sharp, crisp text and vibrant colors. Most competing models, including those mentioned so far, come with auto-duplex ADFs. Duplex printing is not as fast as printing documents using a single pass. Settings, copying, scanning to networks, and more are done from the color touchscreen control panel.
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 High Power and Performance
When it comes to connecting computing devices and cloud sites, Epson leaves little to chance. Hardware Interfaces – Ethernet (up to 100 Mbps). Single PC connection via USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth BLE (Bluetooth Lite Edition). The last two provide peer-to-peer connections that allow you to connect your smartphones and tablets to the printer without being on the same network. You also get Apple AirPrint, Mopria, and a host of options such as email printing, scan to the cloud, a remote printer driver, and more via Epson Connect. As well as the Epson iPrint mobile app for printing and scanning directly to iOS or Android Pocket PC.
As seen above, the display is the entire panel. You also get, like any business-oriented AIO these days, a built-in web portal that gives you access to all work and setup tasks from virtually any desktop, laptop, or portable web browser. Like other EcoTank Pro-all-in-ones, the ET-5850 has a capacity of 550 sheets from three different sources. Two 250-sheet cassettes and a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray that slides up and out from the back of the device.
Epson rates the ET-5850 as a moderate but adequate 25 pages per minute (ppm). To determine how well it compares to other mid-range color all-in-ones we’ve reviewed recently. The first round of tests involved printing a 12-page Microsoft Word document multiple times and averaging the results. Here the ET-5850 topped its rating with an average of 28.7ppm. I then timed the ET-5850 as it launched our set of colorful and complex business documents, consisting of Adobe Acrobat PDFs, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, charts and graphs, and several full-page PowerPoint handouts, consisting of both simple, and complex graphics. and several fonts varying in type, size, and color.
PrecisionCore liquid ink chips
Like the Epson WorkForce Pro printers, the EcoTank Pro device is equipped with a PrecisionCore 4S Heat-Free print head, which uses two ink chips with tiny tightly grouped nozzles. Precision Core 4S (and to a lesser extent 2S) printheads deliver impressive detail and vibrant, accurate colors.
The text on the ET-5850 is close to typesetting, down to the smallest font. Legible without magnification (in my case, about 10 points), which is more than acceptable for most business documents. In addition, the full-page graphics and handouts I printed showed no noticeable imperfections in ink distribution. Colors were more than accurate enough to avoid unsightly color shifts, and details such as hair thinner than 1 point were not choppy from end to end.
Photos looked good too, and the ET-5850 supports borderless printing on prints up to Legal size (8.5 by 14 inches). Many documents (particularly photographs) take on a more professional appearance when borderless printing is used creatively (and generally correctly). ET-5850 should improve your business correspondence.
Color pages for 2 cents
Currently and for some time in the future, the company is offering two years of unlimited free ink use with the purchase of the EcoTank Pro AIO. By giving you as much ink as you can eat within the first two years of owning a printer, Epson has not only outpaced the competition. But also significantly increased the cost of the devices. Starting in its third year, the ET-5850’s running costs are around 2 cents per page for both monochrome and color pages, which isn’t bad either.
As I said about the ET-16650, the black page cost for the ET-5850 isn’t all that great; it is competitive with most entry-level and mid-level color lasers and some inkjet monoblocks. But that 2 cents per color page easily offset the ongoing cost of monochrome printing.
Two years of unlimited ink usage isn’t easy, and depending on how much you print, it can significantly reduce your total cost of ownership. In comparison, the Brother MFC-J5945DW costs just 1 cent to print a monochrome page and 5 cents to print a full-color page. The operating costs of the Epson WF-C5790 are 1.6 cents for monochrome and 6.4 cents for color.
It’s also important to note that several other EcoTank all-in-ones, including the Editors’ Choice ET-4760, print both monochrome and color pages for less than a penny per page. But their volume, capacity, and feature set pale in comparison to the EcoTank Pro devices.
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 Requires No Toner
Over the past couple of years, the choice of bulk ink or super tank printers and multifunction devices has continued to grow. This includes the Epson EcoTank device with tanks you fill from bottles. With the advent of the EcoTank Pro models. Few (if any) have achieved the speed, volume, and input capacity. Feature set required by today’s huge segment of small to medium offices and workgroups.
Why? Well, so far Epson managed to keep their cost per page below one cent for both monochrome and color pages. But the trade-offs in terms of print speed and the other criteria mentioned above have been severe. The EcoTank Pro line solves both problems by increasing the total cost per page to two cents for both black and color printing. Thereby allowing Epson to do what it needs on supplies. Giving customers the features they need to save printing, copying, etc. Other current document management requirements.
Like its wide-format sibling ET-16650. The EcoTank Pro ET-5850 strikes a balance between operating costs and features. Allowing you to print and copy thousands of color pages every month without breaking your organization’s monthly budget. Two years of free ink – a temporary promotion meant to introduce you to this enticing value, no doubt. Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 can be your newest favorite printer choice among mid-range color all-in-one.
